The conductor and music editor of Swan Lake was Riccardo Drigo. On June 30, 1846, Drigo was born in Padua, Italy. He studied music in Padua and continued his studies in the Venice Conservatory. He became well-known as an intinerant conductor and a composer. He moved to Russia in 1878 where he was named the conductor of the St. Petersburg Italian Opera. After a successful time there, he moved on to become the conductor and composer for the Imperial Ballet. Although his initial contract was only for one year, he ended up staying in Russia for forty years. He conducted the premieres of Sleeping Beauty, Raymonda, and The Nutcracker. Drigo composed scores for The Magic Flute and Harlequinade. His "Serenade" from Harlequinade and his "Valse Bluette" became well known and popular repertoire pieces.
Drigo rearranged, reorchestrated, and edited Tchaikovsky's original score of Swan Lake for its revival in 1895. The original score was a massive piece. The arrangement that Drigo developed is the form most companies use today. His arrangements are indistinguishable in style from Tchaikovsky's original. He took a piece by Tchaikovsky, "L'Espeigle", and created a variation for Odile in Act III. He also took a "Valse Bluette" and "Un peu de Chopin" and transformed them into pieces for Act IV.
He would sometimes return to Italy throughout his career. He worked as music director to Anna Pavlova for some time. He patiently worked with her and dealt with how hard she drove him. Drigo was a valued colleague of Petipa and Ivanov. When Petipa fell out of favor in Russia, Drigo fell too, although he stayed in Russia for several more years.
A few years after the revolution in Russia, Drigo returned to Italy, where he died on October 1, 1930.
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